feel better....

~I feel that as a writer I have a much more grounded approach. If I take the time to sit down and organize my thoughts, it is easy to start my paper. Just recently my paragraph structure has started to make sense, and hey! I think I finally know how to form a thesis! :)

~My strengths are informal writing. I love to just sit down and start writing a story.

~My weakness is going back and organizing it in a fashion that it does not ping pong or completely switch topics. I tend to go off on tangents.

** I think HUST and Art tandem has helped me grow in many ways. I learned to push through frustrating times of confusion--many times! ;) --in Art, and it has always benefited me in the end! I have listened to brilliant classmates find underlying meanings of sentences that I would have never even reread, and I have had the chance to get to know 8 great girls and 2 awesome teachers! I am so glad this class worked out in my schedule. I was very hesitant to enroll because I didn't have an interest in HUST or ART! But now I have a great appreciation for both. Thanks everyone! :)

Lost in translation

When I think about the phrase, "Lost in translation", A childhood game come to mind--chinese telephone. The word that the first girl would whisper into the ear of the second girl was rarely even close to the word that the last girl would giggle and announce out loud! When things are translated or passed on, the truth tends to go away. When the soldiers started to change the original names into english, the true meaning behind the names were lost very quickly.

Language is definitely a vessel for culture. A lot of my ancestors are from England, Ireland, and Poland. I love when my parents/grandparents use words and phrases that have been pasted down from generation to generation. These simple words such as "oh musha" have certain meanings that just cannot be translated into english.

POWER

What is power? and who decides who has it? The technical definition for 'power' is, the capacity or ability to direct or influence the behavior of others or the course of events. I find it ironic that the title of the book is Power, and there are many "power struggles" throughout. Omishto never has power over herself. The power over her goes back and forth between her mother and Ama. Sometimes Omishto wants to go against her mother and do what Ama wants her to do, while other times Omishto isn't sure if she is making the right decisions. Ama is also struggling with power. Ama is sometimes controlled by nature and the Taiga tribe. She wants to be a leader yet she does exactly what she thinks she needs to do in order to be accepted by the tribe.

I was thinking about the idea of "power" tonight while I was at dance practice. We don't have a coach because it is a student run organization. Our captain usually takes charge, choreographs the dances, and makes our schedule. Today a different member of the team was teaching a dance and there was a lot of confusion as to who we should ask questions. Naturally, we would ask the captain, but she didn't know the exact answers. The girl teaching the routine did not want to overstep her boundary's to the captain, so she was being quiet. It was really interesting to watch the two girls compete for power over the team.

...in my own little climate

One of the first things I learned about my roommates as a freshman was where they were from. To my surprise they were both from warm southern states, Texas and Florida. At first I was very jealous that they could tan out by their pool on Christmas Eve, but as the year went on, I realized that I was happier with Indiana climate. Most people will think I'm crazy for saying that, but I have lived in Valparaiso my entire life and could not imagine not having the four seasons. I feel like each season is even more beautiful than the next! What would Christmas be like without waking up to a fresh dusting of snow covering the lights on the trees outside? What would fall be like without the changing of the leaves, or spring without the fresh new flowers in bloom? I love the four seasons of Indiana.

Lauren and Professor Ambrose mentioned that the sky was so much smaller in Indiana, which is something that really got me thinking about landscapes and prospective. The first time I went skiing in Utah, I was astonished by the height and beauty for the mountains. I had never seen real mountains. Our ski hill in Indiana is just that, a hill.I knew mountains were large, but I could have never fathomed they were that big! When you are away from home and then return to your natural climate, your prospective might change a little bit. For example, when my roommate returned home to Texas for fall break last year, she complained about how incredibly hot and humid it was, when in reality the weather was no different than it always was. She had just adapted to the weather in South Bend and was used to the chilly fall breeze and rainy days.

After spending an entire year with two Southern girls, I came to the conclusion that most people like the climate that they grew up in. I personally could never travel to Florida during hurricane season, and they can't understand why -10 degrees doesn't really bother me! Most people get used to the climate they grow up in and feel the most comfortable there.

what is a name??

I want to talk about "what is a name?" I am the type of girl who had my children's names picked out before I started preschool. My friend and I would alway play house and my twins names were Skyler (girl) and Tyler (boy) and their older brothers name was Tommy. It wasn't until high school that I realized that Tyler would always remind me of a boy from my elementary school who bragged because he was a great swimmer and Tommy would always be my first crush of middle school. I never had those feelings toward those names until I met people who gave each name an identity. I feel like your opinion of a name can change depending on how many people you know with that specific name, but after you get to know someone pretty well with a certain name, most people have a different opinion about that specific name.

If you don't like a person with a certain name, chances are you will have ill feelings toward that name. If you date someone, chances are you won't date someone else with that same name because it will bring back thoughts of your ex. I also think that you can personally lose some of the identity you have in your name. Personally, I am now referred to as "HANNAH MONTANA" when I introduce myself for the first time to someone. It doesn't usually matter their age or gender, because when most people think of the name Hannah, Montana just naturally comes next. It has made me really wish she would have stuck with the name Miley! (Or Destiny Hope Cyrus because that is her birth name!)

Lucy

I am very surprised by the some of the context in the book. When she talks about "eating Tanners tongue" and giving a boy a "mess in his pants", I couldn't help but think back to when I was fourteen. I was still very naive at that point in my life. I then began to think about foreign countries and their view on intercourse. I know in a lot of cultures, it is acceptable and the social norm for young ladies to have children. It is interesting to think about the history of women.

I found Lucy contradicting herself about her mother. At first she was trying to get as far away as possible and wanted no memory. She promised herself that she would rather die than be a mother like she had. But then when Mariah tries to love her, she shuns it and says that she already has a mother that loves her.